1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for producing high energy, repetitively pulsed, flash X-rays from a filamentary source. Advantageously, the apparatus is of a laboratory scale size and incorporates a low impedance Blumlein assembly coupled to a low impedance X-ray head.
2. Description of Related Art
Sources of X-ray energies are known, such as the low energy X-ray devices used in the medical arts. However, the present invention relates to a high energy, short pulse, X-ray producing apparatus which is useful in many applications, particularly fundamental physics research where it is desired to produce a high energy light source in the X-ray bandwidth. In the past, such high energy X-rays have been produced by either a laser plasma or synchrotron radiation device. Synchrotrons and laser plasma devices have several advantages, such as rich line spectra and collimated beams; however, they are not only quite expensive to obtain and operate, but additionally are massive devices which are unsuitable in many applications where a compact source of high energy X-rays are desired. In particular, where the distinct advantages of a synchrotron or laser plasma device are not necessary, a compact, laboratory-scale size device which would produce repetitively pulsed, high energy X-rays would be desirable.
Several devices have been proposed for producing such high energy X-rays from a compact, X-ray device. In one instance, a portable X-ray generator has been proposed which is capable of producing repetitively pulsed X-rays having a pulse duration as short as 100 nsec. However, it has been proposed that such a portable generator is limited by fundamental theoretical considerations in producing an X-ray pulse much shorter than 100 nsec.
It is a goal in quantum electronics to develop a compact high energy light source. Theoretically, such a light source within the band widths of general interest would have pulse durations of a few nanoseconds. Therefore, it would be a significant advance in the art if a compact, repetitively pulsed, flash X-ray device were developed which could operate at a pulse duration as short as a few nanoseconds to produce high energy X-ray photons.